Culp Brings ‘New Philosophy’ to Cyclone Boys’ Soccer

Culp Brings ‘New Philosophy’ to Cyclone Boys’ Soccer –

(3-21-26) – The new soccer season brings a new coach to the helm of Cyclone boys’ soccer and Coach Levi Culp brings a new philosophy to his team.

“Our new philosophy for this year and the way that we play as a team is kind of a possession with a purpose and attacking space is what I've always told them and what we're driving in their heads to get ready for the season,” Culp told KNOD Sports. “Basically, it'll be a little bit less of just of our players trying to beat everybody with pace because we do have a lot of that. We have some fast boys but sometimes when it comes down to it in the playoffs, so do the other team. So, we're trying to create a different offense and see if it works out for us this year.”

Culp played for Cyclone soccer from 2017-19, scoring 8 goals in 57 games

To help with goalkeeper Lucas Paulsen’s develop, Culp has enlisted the help of former Cyclone teammate Keaton Jones, who allowed just 8 goals in his senior season in guiding Harlan Community to a 16-3 record in 2018.

“It's been wonderful to have him there to help out with goalies,” Culp said of Jones being a volunteer assistant with the team. “We're looking for our goalies to be, well, Lucas, be a bit more involved in the team play in terms of his distribution and getting the ball to our players faster and more organized and the other things we're looking for from him are to be a little bit more bold and confident in that goal back there.”

Leading scorer Landon Nihsen returns having scored 9 goals in just 9 games played as he missed half the season with an injury. Culp likes the all-around leadership Nihsen has shown.

“Yeah, so obviously the first thing a lot of people notice is his speed. That's a great factor to have. But what I noticed with him is that practice, he's always asking us. Tiny little things that can help him get better with his shots, the runs that he makes, passes, and how he could be a better teammate.”

The Cyclone boys’ soccer team will start their season with a scrimmage against Logan-Magnolia on Friday at Merrill Field.

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats